


What I wish Harry had told the Order of the Phoenix in book 5

by S A G (setgree)



Series: Smart Harry Potter acting sensibly throughout the books [2]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: rationality
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-14
Updated: 2017-02-14
Packaged: 2018-09-24 09:58:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 675
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9716507
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/setgree/pseuds/S%20A%20G
Summary: Scene: Molly and Sirius are tussling over how much to tell Harry about the operations of the Order of the Phoenix at 12 Grimmauld Place, after the OotP has rescued Harry from the Dursleys.





	

“I think Harry ought to be allowed a say in this,” Lupin continued. “He’s old enough to decide for himself.”

 _Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix_ , p. 89 

>>>>

Harry took five steady breaths and looked around the room.

“I have a lot to say about this. I’ll start by addressing Molly.”

 He looked at her.

“Mrs. Weasley, I don’t say this enough — I love you very much. You've been nothing but wonderful to me." 

Harry paused.

“I’ve been having bad dreams lately. Confusing ones about an endless corridor, and Voldemort’s voice, his desires. But a lot of dreams about Cedric. I could have saved his life, if I’d been better prepared. More adequate. And I hate myself for it. For my stupidity.” 

“I appreciate, Molly, that you want to keep me safe. But I’m in it. We all are. Voldemort wants me dead. And we are all just playing pretend.”

"Look at you,” Harry said, gesturing around the room. “You know I love you. But you are not soldiers. I see a thief, a bureaucrat, and a homemaker, and Sirius and Remus, my impression is that neither of you has ever held a real job. I know that’s not your fault. But as far as I can tell, all of us are here, alive, not because of our skill or our knowledge, but because we got lucky, over and over again. Implausibly lucky, actually. Fairy-tale lucky.”

 “For that matter, I was a big fucking idiot to enroll in the Triwizard tournament. I should have told those Headmasters to shove it. Looking back on it, the odds that someone hoodwinked the Cup for my _benefit_ rather than my harm were zero. I should have known that. But I was 14. It was your responsibility, all of you, to mind the store, because teenagers are stupid, and because you didn’t, Cedric died."

So, if you're asking, would I be safer if I had more information, or more likely to blunder into something stupid again, which is the question you should be asking, my choice is to delegate answering that to someone with a track record of good judgment. My mind goes to Snape and perhaps Moody, though I don’t know the man. Maybe Dumbledore. I’ve been thinking about this a lot this summer. Snape was the only person in the Order to agitate against my participation in the Triwizard tournament, in his own unpleasant way. I need to thank him for that and apologize for not taking his concerns seriously. Nobody else. Also, I'm going to consult with Hermione about everything from now on.”

 “But right now, that’s not what’s on my mind. No, we’re going to put this conversation on hold until I can talk to Professor Snape. Let’s zoom out for a minute on the big picture.We have two goals: kill Voldemort and his supporters, and survive, and the first of those takes precedence. We need to get cracking on it.”

 “First things first, combat, magic or non-magic. There are still some limits on what I can do unsupervised. If I travel with one of you via side-apparition to Australia, are we in the clear? And if we can’t do that, or, even if we can, how about some hand-to-hand stuff?  What about with knives, or guns? If none of you knows how to use a pistol, let’s find someone who does, and hire them to teach us. I'm freaking loaded, it won't be a problem. And if school gets in the way, fuck school. This is life or death.”

“Oh, and one more thing,” Harry said. “No more bullshit status rivalries. We’re done exchanging words. You don’t like how somebody talks to you, you keep your head down and your mouth shut. We’re going to be nice to everybody. We’re going to be nice to the Malfoys. Every one of us. We’re running a full-time PR operation now. You don’t like that, you’re off the team. The stakes are too high.”

“So,” Harry concluded. “Are there any questions I can address?”

 


End file.
